Noosa is this wonderful area about 2h drive north from Brisbane. David and Ave took me there for a weekend. Here is the information I got from web:
"Noosa is a little piece of exclusive city suburbia located on the Sunshine Coast, 178 km north of Brisbane and with a present population of around 10 000. Noosa's resort area commences at Peregian Beach in the south and extends north through Marcus Beach, Sunrise Beach and Sunshine Beach to Noosa Heads. All are bordered to the east by the Coral Sea."
You'll find one wonderful beach after another one here, there are many of them and seriously gorgeous ones. Right next to the beach there is a national park with koalas living in it as well - it is just the most beautiful place one can imagine. Beaches are semi-private as the crowd is gathered just on the main beach and all the other 4 beaches next to it are basically deserted. Shore is sandy for quite far off the waterline, water is bright bluish-green and waves hit the shore with rhythmic humming - just like a paradise.
We arrived in Noosa around 1pm, dropped our things off at the hotel and headed to the beach. The beach took my breath away - I had already forgotten how beautiful the Pacific really is! Right by the beach there is Noosa National Park - we took a wonderful walk there, for about an hour, wondering on the coastline between eucalyptus trees (oh the wonderful smell of eucalyptus!). For dinner we voted for Thai kitchen - food was wonderful. One of the strange things was that the restaurant was not selling any alcohol, we wanted to have win with our dinner, so they gladly guided us to a liquor shop to bring a bottle back from there and enjoy that with our dinner. Just remembered another strange custom here - eating places offer lunch only till about 3 or 4pm and then the kitchen gets closed for couple of hours :) Food is served again from 6 or 7pm, which means if you would like to eat around 5 o'clock, it is quite complicated to find a place that serves food.
Currently there is also Noosa Jazz festival in town so right after dinner we got to listen to some live jazz in a nearby restaurant - what a treat!
This morning our plan was to sleep in as late as possible and then head to town for late breakfast. Guess what time I was wide awake :) 7:10! So much about sleeping in this time. Good thing was that I found free wireless randomly extending to my room - 2 hours flew by in a snap :D
HAPPY FATHERS DAY DADDY! :D :D yeap, today is fathers day here in Australia! Due to that fact all eating places were extremely crowded :( We still squeezed ourselves in and had long breakfast outside with ocean view - perfect start for our great Sunday. My breakfast consisted of a giant muffin and some hash-browns. Now the muffin, it was absolutely enormous, I have no clue how they manage to make such big muffins at all, it was huuuuuge, I could barely eat the whole thing :)
Next step was to rent a surfboard :), this went quite smoothly. As soon as we found free sand in the madness on the beach, I hit the water with the board and did not come out till 2h later :D So that was an experience I must say - water was extremely crowded with all sorts of surfers. Lot of them seemed to know what they were doing and I still found a quite big crowd of inexperienced ones like me :D Either way, my accomplishment was that I hit 2 really good waves and I got up on the board twice :D The problem was though that I could not align those 2 events :) All in all - I loved it, to be in the water with the board. I do realize that I need a whole lotta practice, but it is the best of the best to be in the water on the board!
The rest of the day went by sipping wine, listening to live jazz music, walking around by the river and by the ocean (of course, our favourite thing to do!).
Tomorrow morning we will head back to Brisbane, packing will have to wait till tomorrow as I'm dead tired. I have no idea when I'll find internet again so you have to manage with my twitter updates for some time again!
be good to each other and take care!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Cairns to Brisbane
Last day in Cairns was spent packing and looking around in town. Ave's friend David suggested to take a skyrail at the rainforest, so I had planned that in for the day, but missed the last pickup by 30 minutes :( Which was ok as I was not willing to get up any earlier and my packing took time as well. So instead I just walked to town, spent time at the main square listening to live music again and just laying in the sun. It was a nice and relaxed morning. Headed back to the hotel by 3 and headed to the airport.
Flight to Brisbane was about 2 hours, the plane was fully packed so it was a bit claustrophobic there. And again, I managed to sleep a full hour on the plane! Without any pillow or anything - I'm so proud of myself :) what an optimal time usage huh?
Once I arrived in Brisbane Ave was at the airport to greet me - it was soooo nice to see her. For the first couple of hours we both talked as fast as we could like we are about to run out of time or something :D We seemed to have a world to catch up on. Ave had prepared a nice meal with wine and dessert, which we had over at David's parents house. We were just talking and talking and talking away until it was time to go to bed. I did get to meet David's parents - very very nice and cheerful people.
I don't know much about Brisbane to update you on quite yet. I'm sure the city is big and I'm sure it is beautiful :) More facts and stories about the town later on!
Oh right, there was a little incident with my hotel booking :) Apparently the booking I did was not valid or something so once we arrived at the hotel all the rooms were taken and my booking did not show up anywhere :( As all the people are so nice here the lady in charge arranged one room for me late at night - people were moving out around 9 and then she asked an hour or so for cleaning it. She gave me the spare key and promised to take my bags in there herself - by the time I got to the room a bit before 11 all was arranged and done. Whatta nice lady.
Flight to Brisbane was about 2 hours, the plane was fully packed so it was a bit claustrophobic there. And again, I managed to sleep a full hour on the plane! Without any pillow or anything - I'm so proud of myself :) what an optimal time usage huh?
Once I arrived in Brisbane Ave was at the airport to greet me - it was soooo nice to see her. For the first couple of hours we both talked as fast as we could like we are about to run out of time or something :D We seemed to have a world to catch up on. Ave had prepared a nice meal with wine and dessert, which we had over at David's parents house. We were just talking and talking and talking away until it was time to go to bed. I did get to meet David's parents - very very nice and cheerful people.
I don't know much about Brisbane to update you on quite yet. I'm sure the city is big and I'm sure it is beautiful :) More facts and stories about the town later on!
Oh right, there was a little incident with my hotel booking :) Apparently the booking I did was not valid or something so once we arrived at the hotel all the rooms were taken and my booking did not show up anywhere :( As all the people are so nice here the lady in charge arranged one room for me late at night - people were moving out around 9 and then she asked an hour or so for cleaning it. She gave me the spare key and promised to take my bags in there herself - by the time I got to the room a bit before 11 all was arranged and done. Whatta nice lady.
Friday, September 4, 2009
First photos are up!
I have uploiaded first set of photos, find the link on the right hand side menu (right below Twitter updates). Enjoy!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
cairns - day 3 - whitewater rafting
All the tours start way too early. When I headed out of my room at 6:40, the tour guide was already running around the hotel nervously. Picking up all the rest of the group took another 30 minutes. Tully is located south from Cairns and is about 1.5h drive, Tully river is the best white water rafting place around here - river is winding through a rain forest with numerous waterfalls and other scenic areas. Today we are going to be passing about 9km on level 4 rafting river, maximum commercial level is 6 - adrenaline kick will be a nice one :)
Upon arrival we were divided into groups and lectured for about 30 minutes on all the safety regulations. Safety was mostly common logic - when in the water after falling in stay close to the surface as the current is quite strong and don't wanna get hit by the underwater rocks, keep the helmet and life vest on, when raft flips over get away from underneath as quick as possible etc. Once on the raft, our instructor Teddie went though some more safety regulations and moves we need to know before heading towards the rapids. Teddie was this short buff guy, he has been competing with Australian team all over the world as we found out. But oh those Aussies. He had scars all over his face and arms and legs, everywhere. And so on the first level 4 rapid he goes "do you all see that big triangular rock in front of us? yeah, that is where I got those 2 scars above each of my eyebrows - also broke upper 4 teeth when smacking my face on it full speed. that was my first rafting ever" we all looked at each other with horror :) He'd also give us good introduction when approaching another complicated rapid, one goes like so "see the edge there? 4 people have died on this one" :O, we all look at each other with frightened eyes. Aren't they suppose to tell us those things on our way back in the bus :D ??
Anyhoo, rafting was an absolute blast. Our team kicked ass - we did not flip over once, no one fell overboard and we were mostly fastest getting through the rapids. We ruled :) Later we got to see the DVD that was made, basically in all other rafts someone went overboard and I guess all other rafts flipped over sooner or later.
Wonderful times, we were back in town around 6pm. Now I have registered myself for 24h Internet, uploading photos and blogging is in progress. I'll probably get the photos organized tomorrow. Right now I'm gonna head to town to go for tea with Ave's friend and grab something to eat as well. Tomorrow morning is for resting :) My plane to Brisbane leaves at 16:40.
Tadaaa!
Upon arrival we were divided into groups and lectured for about 30 minutes on all the safety regulations. Safety was mostly common logic - when in the water after falling in stay close to the surface as the current is quite strong and don't wanna get hit by the underwater rocks, keep the helmet and life vest on, when raft flips over get away from underneath as quick as possible etc. Once on the raft, our instructor Teddie went though some more safety regulations and moves we need to know before heading towards the rapids. Teddie was this short buff guy, he has been competing with Australian team all over the world as we found out. But oh those Aussies. He had scars all over his face and arms and legs, everywhere. And so on the first level 4 rapid he goes "do you all see that big triangular rock in front of us? yeah, that is where I got those 2 scars above each of my eyebrows - also broke upper 4 teeth when smacking my face on it full speed. that was my first rafting ever" we all looked at each other with horror :) He'd also give us good introduction when approaching another complicated rapid, one goes like so "see the edge there? 4 people have died on this one" :O, we all look at each other with frightened eyes. Aren't they suppose to tell us those things on our way back in the bus :D ??
Anyhoo, rafting was an absolute blast. Our team kicked ass - we did not flip over once, no one fell overboard and we were mostly fastest getting through the rapids. We ruled :) Later we got to see the DVD that was made, basically in all other rafts someone went overboard and I guess all other rafts flipped over sooner or later.
Wonderful times, we were back in town around 6pm. Now I have registered myself for 24h Internet, uploading photos and blogging is in progress. I'll probably get the photos organized tomorrow. Right now I'm gonna head to town to go for tea with Ave's friend and grab something to eat as well. Tomorrow morning is for resting :) My plane to Brisbane leaves at 16:40.
Tadaaa!
cairns - day 2 - great barrier reef
Gathering for the tour started at 7:30, boat took off from Marlin Marina finger A at 8am.
The Great Barrier Reef is 2700km long reaching north to south right by Cairns. It is formed of batches of corals, which need shallow salt water and lots of sun to grow. There are various different types of corals (~400 types) and lots of sea animals (~4000 species of mollusks) and fish (~1500 different types) living alongside of it. We were warned many times not to touch the coral. Apparently it is not the crowds of tourists or global warming that is dangerous, but the touching - we wear lots of sunscreen and if that gets on a coral by our fingers, it dies :(
Our first snorkeling stop was about 1h boat ride away, called "Wonder Wall" located on the outer edge of Upolu Reef. It is just like a wall in the ocean - on one side is the coral and on the other side the wall goes into depth of the ocean. It is nothing compared to what I saw in Hawaii on Molokini island. Everything is much closer here, there are more different kinds of fish and the water is clearer. We are also allowed to swim around more freely, which I like :)
Once everybody gathered back on the boat the crew held a guided tour on a glass bottom boat. This way they were able to tell us all about the marine life and forming of coral reef. For an example I found out that even the corals sleep :) Right, they have feeding time when they are moving about with water, just like tall grass is moving in different directions with the wind, once the coral goes to sleep, it gets leathery look and is not moving around any longer. We were also explained of why coral dies and how dying coral helps to reproduce for the living coral.
Second snorkeling sight was by Upolu Cay, located about 30km from Cairns - a sand patch that rises out of the sea once the tide goes down. This we did after lunch as before lunch it was still under water :) That was my favourite! Little sand hills in a bright blue sea next to dark coral patches all around. As the sand was piled up there was very shallow water for about 50m down the stream, in shallow areas the water was extremely warm - I just laid there and did not wanna leave, ever :)
While snorkeling I saw nemo fish, turtle (from a distance this time), many different kinds of other fish (some were huuuge and some were tiny, some where plain and some were bright blue, like a colorful fish tank), saw a huge stingray (probably about 1.2m long) and a shark (can't remember what it was called, could it be black shark perhaps? it was also a bit over a meter long i'd say). Stingray and shark were hiding under a huge coral - one on one side and the other one on the other side, apparently they like to hang out together usually :) And of course many many different kinds of corals - some shaped like huge plates, some like fingers, some like cabbage. Corals were in many different colors and with lots of different types of fish swimming all around and inside of it. Snorkeling and staring at the complicated coral/fish/mollusk setting was like staring at an always moving art piece - you just stare and you are not able to take your eyes off as with every second the art piece changes.
On the way back we were served more food, cheese, fruit, snacks and cake. I happened to chat with couple of Germans - it is always my favourite part :) Also the crew was great! There was 6 of them total, two had worked on the boat just for 4 months, one moved here from London and the other one from Canada. Both of them said they got enough of the cold weather :) One of them expressed it in this format: it is 29C, water is 25C and it is WINTER at the moment!
After the trip I got back to the hotel, idea was to take a quick shower and quick nap, then head to town for dinner and a concert - nope that did not happen. I kept pressing snooze for about 20 minutes after that I gave up, had a quick snack and headed to bed for good :) Apparently adjusting and catching up on sleep takes a bit more than one 13h sleep ;)
The Great Barrier Reef is 2700km long reaching north to south right by Cairns. It is formed of batches of corals, which need shallow salt water and lots of sun to grow. There are various different types of corals (~400 types) and lots of sea animals (~4000 species of mollusks) and fish (~1500 different types) living alongside of it. We were warned many times not to touch the coral. Apparently it is not the crowds of tourists or global warming that is dangerous, but the touching - we wear lots of sunscreen and if that gets on a coral by our fingers, it dies :(
Our first snorkeling stop was about 1h boat ride away, called "Wonder Wall" located on the outer edge of Upolu Reef. It is just like a wall in the ocean - on one side is the coral and on the other side the wall goes into depth of the ocean. It is nothing compared to what I saw in Hawaii on Molokini island. Everything is much closer here, there are more different kinds of fish and the water is clearer. We are also allowed to swim around more freely, which I like :)
Once everybody gathered back on the boat the crew held a guided tour on a glass bottom boat. This way they were able to tell us all about the marine life and forming of coral reef. For an example I found out that even the corals sleep :) Right, they have feeding time when they are moving about with water, just like tall grass is moving in different directions with the wind, once the coral goes to sleep, it gets leathery look and is not moving around any longer. We were also explained of why coral dies and how dying coral helps to reproduce for the living coral.
Second snorkeling sight was by Upolu Cay, located about 30km from Cairns - a sand patch that rises out of the sea once the tide goes down. This we did after lunch as before lunch it was still under water :) That was my favourite! Little sand hills in a bright blue sea next to dark coral patches all around. As the sand was piled up there was very shallow water for about 50m down the stream, in shallow areas the water was extremely warm - I just laid there and did not wanna leave, ever :)
While snorkeling I saw nemo fish, turtle (from a distance this time), many different kinds of other fish (some were huuuge and some were tiny, some where plain and some were bright blue, like a colorful fish tank), saw a huge stingray (probably about 1.2m long) and a shark (can't remember what it was called, could it be black shark perhaps? it was also a bit over a meter long i'd say). Stingray and shark were hiding under a huge coral - one on one side and the other one on the other side, apparently they like to hang out together usually :) And of course many many different kinds of corals - some shaped like huge plates, some like fingers, some like cabbage. Corals were in many different colors and with lots of different types of fish swimming all around and inside of it. Snorkeling and staring at the complicated coral/fish/mollusk setting was like staring at an always moving art piece - you just stare and you are not able to take your eyes off as with every second the art piece changes.
On the way back we were served more food, cheese, fruit, snacks and cake. I happened to chat with couple of Germans - it is always my favourite part :) Also the crew was great! There was 6 of them total, two had worked on the boat just for 4 months, one moved here from London and the other one from Canada. Both of them said they got enough of the cold weather :) One of them expressed it in this format: it is 29C, water is 25C and it is WINTER at the moment!
After the trip I got back to the hotel, idea was to take a quick shower and quick nap, then head to town for dinner and a concert - nope that did not happen. I kept pressing snooze for about 20 minutes after that I gave up, had a quick snack and headed to bed for good :) Apparently adjusting and catching up on sleep takes a bit more than one 13h sleep ;)
cairns - day 1
Flight from Hong-Kong to Cairns was 7h, went by in a snap. Got some good movies in and short sleep again. Arrival was great as always, after so many hours of flying any destination probably seems like the best one ever :) Once out of the plane had a small chat with immigration about my finances, when I'm expected back at the office (thought I can forget about the office for now, but nope), why I'm here, when did I start planning the trip and what sort of visas do the people hold that I'm gonna visit. Nothing too surprising I guess, customs was smooth as well - including the cleaning of my hiking boots. I've heard from various people of how they are very careful about the soil that gets brought in here with various shoes, so they deep clean them :) so they did for mine as well, my hiking boots came back nicely packaged :D
After 36h of traveling I figured I should just stay awake as long as possible. Napping in the middle of the day won't work for me as I won't be able to get out of bed, this in turn would mess up the whole rhythm of sleep. Only way to manage staying awake would be walking around. Quick shower at the hotel first, change of clothes and to the town I went.
Cairns is a small place as seen by locals, about 130 000 people (town size is expected to double within few years). My hotel is located 1.5km from the center - there is a nice Esplanade connecting this area to the city center, just about 1.5km walk. Town itself is nice, many eating places, a big mall, quite large marina, parks, water Laguna and little arts shops. Laguna is great - it is located right by the sea, but as the sea is not very suitable for a swim (muddy shore and not very inviting, I found also warning signs about alligators), they have set up a shallow pool with all sorts of fountains for people to swim in. During the day it is packed with people.
At the moment there is Carin's Festival ongoing with a tight program. Happened to find one outdoor live music performance in city center, in the evenings there are pub performances all over town - perhaps tomorrow I'll catch one of those too.
While working on staying awake and walking around town I booked my next 2 days. Tomorrow I will be going to explore Great Barrier Reef and the day after there will be white water rafting - a bit more of an adrenaline kick :) Both are day tours including lunch and a tight program. While looking for a place to have dinner I ran into 2 Estonians on the street :)
Managed to keep myself busy till about 4 in the afternoon, by the time I got back to the hotel the time was 4:45. Bit of unpacking and then preparing for tomorrow's trip, I was done at 5:30 and that is when I fell dead on the bed. Tiredness took over and my 13h beauty sleep started :)
After 36h of traveling I figured I should just stay awake as long as possible. Napping in the middle of the day won't work for me as I won't be able to get out of bed, this in turn would mess up the whole rhythm of sleep. Only way to manage staying awake would be walking around. Quick shower at the hotel first, change of clothes and to the town I went.
Cairns is a small place as seen by locals, about 130 000 people (town size is expected to double within few years). My hotel is located 1.5km from the center - there is a nice Esplanade connecting this area to the city center, just about 1.5km walk. Town itself is nice, many eating places, a big mall, quite large marina, parks, water Laguna and little arts shops. Laguna is great - it is located right by the sea, but as the sea is not very suitable for a swim (muddy shore and not very inviting, I found also warning signs about alligators), they have set up a shallow pool with all sorts of fountains for people to swim in. During the day it is packed with people.
At the moment there is Carin's Festival ongoing with a tight program. Happened to find one outdoor live music performance in city center, in the evenings there are pub performances all over town - perhaps tomorrow I'll catch one of those too.
While working on staying awake and walking around town I booked my next 2 days. Tomorrow I will be going to explore Great Barrier Reef and the day after there will be white water rafting - a bit more of an adrenaline kick :) Both are day tours including lunch and a tight program. While looking for a place to have dinner I ran into 2 Estonians on the street :)
Managed to keep myself busy till about 4 in the afternoon, by the time I got back to the hotel the time was 4:45. Bit of unpacking and then preparing for tomorrow's trip, I was done at 5:30 and that is when I fell dead on the bed. Tiredness took over and my 13h beauty sleep started :)
Monday, August 31, 2009
Reporting from Hong-Kong
It was kinda nice to arrive here. Flight map showed all the familiar cities and I knew what to expect when arriving, last year I was here 6th of September. Airport has been transformed quite a bit though, it looks nice. My flights so far have gone well, no major turbulence or delays or any other hassles. Only thing was that I had to claim my baggage in London Heathrow and do another check-in 'cause Estonian Air does not have baggage contract with Cathay Pacific :( All went smoothly with that so no biggie at all.
I'm not sure how I managed to get even few good hours of sleep on the last flight. Managed to have a dream even where one of my friends got stuck in airplane restroom :). Maybe the ability to sleep on the flights comes with age? No clue, but I'm definitely happy about it. Hopefully now I will only need to sleep 1 day instead of 3 days to get back on track once I arrive in the destination :D Kidding, no time to sleep during vacation ;)
Hunger bites so food hunting starts now. Some stretches for my back and legs are in order as well (oh how I'm dreaming about running). Next flight coming up in 4 hours.
Hugs!
I'm not sure how I managed to get even few good hours of sleep on the last flight. Managed to have a dream even where one of my friends got stuck in airplane restroom :). Maybe the ability to sleep on the flights comes with age? No clue, but I'm definitely happy about it. Hopefully now I will only need to sleep 1 day instead of 3 days to get back on track once I arrive in the destination :D Kidding, no time to sleep during vacation ;)
Hunger bites so food hunting starts now. Some stretches for my back and legs are in order as well (oh how I'm dreaming about running). Next flight coming up in 4 hours.
Hugs!
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